The sports world is one that’s always changing, and with every generation, we get to see new players come in and show their skills. In basketball, we have the likes of Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, and Michael Jordan. In soccer, there’s Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Pele. But what about tennis? Well, look no further than the legendary trio of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic, who have dominated the men’s tennis scene for over 2 decades. They’ve set the bar high, leaving up-and-coming players to try and catch up to their greatness.
Over the past few years, a new generation of players like Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Alexander Zverev have come in and are called the NextGen. They’ve certainly made their mark on the tennis world, winning some major titles and giving some furious competition to the Big 3. However, they still haven’t quite reached the top, and their inconsistency and mental fragility are holding them back.
It’s 2018, and Alexander Zverev wins his biggest title yet, beating Federer and Djokovic along the way to claim the ATP Finals. Many saw this as a sign of the changing of the guard in tennis, that the NextGen had finally arrived. But in the next 16 Grand Slam tournaments, the Big 3 won 13 of them, leaving only 3 other players to claim their first Grand Slam title. So, what’s going on?
Well, tennis is a sport that requires a lot of patience, consistency, and mental strength. While physical strength is certainly important, the mental aspect of the game is often the deciding factor between success and failure. It’s also one of the most overlooked aspects of the game; players that aren’t mentally strong usually don’t fare too well over the years. The statistics show that even though the Big 3 have been dominating for over 2 decades, they have an average win rate of 82.8%, which is astronomical, while the NextGen’s win rates are significantly lower – up to 15% lower in fact. The disparity here is because the Big 3 have always had a never-give-up attitude, always fighting for every point and never throwing in the towel, even when things aren’t going their way. This mental toughness has helped them stay on top for so long.
The NextGen, on the other hand, has been struggling in this regard. Racket smashing and negative outbursts on the court are all too common, and they show a lack of mental focus and strength. Rather than giving up when things start to go south, players need to focus on finding a solution to the problem at hand.
Despite the struggles of the NextGen, there is hope for the future of tennis. A new generation of players born in the early 2000s is starting to take over. But what about the “NextGen” players born in the late 1990s? Well, they were supposed to be the ones to take the torch from the Big 3 and run with it, but they’ve fallen short. New players like Carlos Alcaraz, born in 2003, are quickly rising through the ranks with exceptional maturity, a high tennis IQ, and consistency. Alcaraz, a youngster from Spain, has already won his first Grand Slam and ended 2022 ranked the world number 1 at just 19 years old. Thus, this new generation of players offers hope for the future of tennis after the Big 3 have retired. One thing’s for sure: tennis is in good hands.
